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If I could give 10 stars I would If I could give 10 stars I would Such an amazing service so needed during the times when EDD almost never picks up Claimyr gets me on the phone with EDD every time without fail faster. A much needed service without Claimyr I would have never received the payment I needed to support me during my postpartum recovery. Thank you so much Claimyr!
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Really made a difference, save me time and energy from going to a local office for making the call.
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Was a bit nervous or untrusting at first, but my calls went thru. First time the wait was a bit long but their customer chat line on their page was helpful and put me at ease that I would receive my call. Today my call dropped because of EDD and Claimyr heard my concern on the same chat and another call was made within the hour.
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An incredibly helpful service! Got me connected to a CA EDD agent without major hassle (outside of EDD's agents dropping calls – which Claimyr has free protection for). If you need to file a new claim and can't do it online, pay the $ to Claimyr to get the process started. Absolutely worth it!
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Used this service a couple times now. Before I'd call 200 times in less than a weak frustrated as can be. But using claimyr with a couple hours of waiting i was on the line with an representative or on hold. Dropped a couple times but each reconnected not long after and was mission accomplished, thanks to Claimyr.
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I tried for weeks to get thru to EDD PFL program with no luck. I gave this a try thinking it may be a scam. OMG! It worked and They got thru within an hour and my claim is going to finally get paid!! I upgraded to the $60 call. Best $60 spent!
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- DO post questions about your issues.
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One additional thing to check: Did you properly account for all contributors? With the new FAFSA, if there are divorced/separated parents or other contributors, their information needs to be entered correctly. Sometimes the system counts income twice or applies formula components incorrectly when multiple contributors are involved. And remember, once your application is fully processed, you can always contact each individual college's financial aid office to request a professional judgment review if you believe your SAI doesn't accurately reflect your ability to pay.
QuantumLeap
•We're married/joint filers, so I don't think the contributor issue applies to us. But that's good to know about requesting reviews from individual schools. If we can't get this fixed directly with FAFSA, we'll definitely reach out to the colleges my daughter applied to. Thank you!
Ravi Sharma
Did you check if your SAI includes any untaxed income like contributions to tax-deferred pension plans? The new FAFSA treats those differently than the old system did. I found out I was double-counting some retirement contributions which totally messed up my numbers.
QuantumLeap
•Update: I finally got through to a FAFSA representative! Turns out we made a decimal error when entering our home value - we put $1,750,000 instead of $175,000! Even though home equity isn't counted, the overall home value apparently still factors into some calculations. They said our corrected SAI should be around $12,000 once the update processes. What a relief! Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!
Oh wow, a decimal error - that makes total sense! I'm so glad you figured it out and got it resolved. That must have been such a stressful few weeks thinking you'd have to pay $38k. Your experience is really helpful for others who might be dealing with similar discrepancies. It's a good reminder for everyone to double-check those big numbers when entering values, especially home values and asset amounts. Thanks for updating us with the resolution!
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cant u just move the money to someone elses account until after u file fafsa? thats what my cousin did lol
Grace Durand
•This is actually considered fraud and could result in serious consequences including losing all financial aid eligibility, having to repay aid already received, or even legal penalties. The FAFSA requires you to report all assets you own, regardless of which account they're in. Temporarily transferring money to hide it is explicitly prohibited and can be discovered during verification.
Melissa Lin
I went through something similar when my basement flooded and I got an insurance payout. The advice here about using the Professional Judgment process is spot on. I submitted my FAFSA with the insurance money showing in my account balance, then immediately contacted my school's financial aid office with a letter explaining the situation. I included copies of the insurance claim, photos of the damage, and repair estimates. They adjusted my aid package within about 3 weeks. The key is being proactive and transparent - don't try to hide it or game the system. Most financial aid officers have seen this situation before and know how to handle it properly. Good luck with the repairs!
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One last important point that hasn't been mentioned yet - the Parent PLUS loan process has two steps: 1) the application/credit check and 2) completing a Master Promissory Note (MPN). Make sure you do both or the funds won't disburse. Many parents complete the application but forget the MPN step, causing disbursement delays. Both steps are done on studentaid.gov.
Thank you for this crucial reminder! I would have probably missed that second step. Will make sure we complete both the application AND the MPN.
As someone who just went through this process last semester, I want to emphasize timing - don't wait until the last minute! Even though the application only takes 20 minutes, the credit check results can sometimes take a few days, and if there are any issues, you'll want time to resolve them or explore alternatives. Also, once approved, it can take 1-2 weeks for the funds to actually disburse to your daughter's school. With 6 weeks until her tuition is due, you're in good shape timing-wise, but I'd recommend starting the application within the next week or two just to be safe.
This is excellent advice about timing! I was getting worried about the 6-week deadline, but it sounds like we're actually in a good position if we start soon. Quick question - if there are issues with the credit check, what are the most common problems families run into? I want to be prepared for potential hiccups so we can address them quickly if needed.
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Amina Diop
I'm dealing with the exact same thing right now! My son's FAFSA has had that red exclamation mark for about 2 weeks now, and like you, I can't find any actual error messages anywhere. The status just says "processing" and I've been driving myself crazy checking it multiple times a day. It's so frustrating that they don't make it clearer what these symbols actually mean. Reading through everyone's responses here is really helpful though - sounds like this is just how their poorly designed system works and we just have to wait it out. The new FAFSA portal is definitely not user-friendly at all!
I totally understand the anxiety of checking multiple times a day! I've been doing the same thing with my daughter's application. It's such a relief to know we're not alone in this confusion. The responses here have really helped me realize that the red exclamation mark seems to be more of a design flaw than an actual error indicator. I'm going to try to resist the urge to keep checking obsessively and just give it another week or two. Hopefully both our kids' applications will process soon! This whole experience has definitely made me appreciate how much simpler the old system was, even if it wasn't perfect.
Ava Martinez
I'm going through this exact same nightmare with my daughter's FAFSA! That red exclamation mark has been taunting me for weeks now. After reading all these responses, I feel so much better knowing it's not just us dealing with this confusing interface. It sounds like as long as the status says "processing" and there aren't specific error messages listed anywhere, we're probably okay to just wait it out. The fact that schools are receiving the data (as mentioned by Gabriel) is really reassuring. I'm definitely going to check that messages tab that Alicia mentioned - I had no idea that even existed! Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences. It's crazy that we all have to become detectives just to figure out if our financial aid applications are working properly. Here's hoping all our kids' applications process soon so we can stop obsessing over cryptic red symbols!
Dmitry Smirnov
dont 4get 2 check if her scholarships from freshman yr automatically renew! my daughter lost her merit scholarship bc she didnt know there was a gpa requirement and the school didnt tell her until it was 2 late ðŸ˜
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Giovanni Greco
•This is excellent advice. Many institutional scholarships have GPA requirements (often 3.0 or higher), credit hour minimums, or other renewal criteria. Some require an annual application even for renewal. These details should be in the original scholarship terms, but it's worth checking with the financial aid office to confirm all requirements have been met.
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Freya Christensen
One thing I learned from going through this process with my twins last year - make sure your daughter's contact information is up to date in both her studentaid.gov account AND her school's student portal. My son almost missed his award notification because it went to his old high school email address that he wasn't checking anymore. Also, some schools send award letters as secure messages through their portal rather than regular email, so she'll need to log in periodically to check for new messages. The whole system definitely feels overwhelming at first, but you're asking all the right questions!
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QuantumQuester
•That's such a smart reminder about updating contact info! I just realized my daughter might still have her high school email as primary in some places. I'll have her double-check both accounts this weekend. And good to know about the secure portal messages - I would have been waiting for regular emails and probably missed important notifications. Thanks for sharing what you learned with your twins!
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